#because haha broken crown

[ninjago-autism-hours]

💭: What's one headcannon you have?

Hmmm, what to give...

Elemental masters who have unlocked their true potential gain sort of tattoos that reflect their element and how they reached their true potential! I.e. Cole has what looks like cracks tracing the muscles of their shoulders and back, Kai has flames up his arms and across his chest (where they make a heart), and Nya has waves down her arms! Zane lost his when he became the titanium ninja, but he does wind up painting them back on: rings of ice circling outwards from his chest hatch!

[cambion-companion]

could I request for you to write an scenario in which Raphael does not die to Tav nor their party, but in an other similarly humiliating circumstances, and Tav when learning about this desperately goes to save Raphael from his father by bargaining with Mephistopheles? (hilariously in a very sad way, I assume this, is the only moment that Mephistopheles would ever "value" Raphael's life, but then again that is devils for you) and Raphael's confusion at the whole thing, someone taking a terrible bargain to save him, just… because they… like him…??? (bonus points, if Tav still has a crown to willingly give Raphael XD)

It's beat up Raphael hours huh? (also Korilla will be fine)

Hi there love. This turned from a drabble into a oneshot haha

Have fun running to Cania to pick up your wayfaring devil!

Raphael x reader (gn)

Korilla had come to you.

Broker and bruised, battered and bloody. Her long curly hair matted with mud and dried viscous.

“Help him.”  Her first words, rasped from a throat raw from screams.

“Korilla!”  You caught her weight as her knees buckled, lowering her gently to the ground.  The Dwarven woman wasn’t your friend by any means, but she had been your ally.  “Who needs my help?”  You couldn’t fathom who she might be referring to.

Surely it wasn’t Raphael. It couldn’t possibly be the enigmatic, self-assured cambion.

Korilla’s answering rasp dispelled any doubt. “My master.”

A fog of shock settled over your mind, your hands loosening around Korilla’s shaking form.  She whispered the truth into your ear, her bruised lips trailing her blood onto your clammy skin. With fading voice Korilla told of the attack, Raphael’s demise and his imminent doom.

“Portal. Diabolist.  Cania.”  Korilla’s breaths grew short as she fought valiantly once more against the oncoming black.

“Hold on, Korilla.  You’re going to be okay.”

“Save him.” She said again, her eyes slowly glossing over as the life left her broken body.

You cursed.  The warlock’s last actions had been to find you in a desperate hope you’d help Raphael before he was consumed by his father.  His father who just so happened to be an archdevil. Mephistopheles.

“Little shit could’ve mentioned that.”  You grimaced, lowering Korilla’s body to rest upon the cold earth.

You stood, pinching the bridge of your nose as your thoughts whirled and clashed. Not only had the attackers killed Raphael, but they had also looted his house, stealing the Orphic hammer and the only hope you’d had of defeating the Elder Brain.

“Damn it.”  You returned to your companions with the news. “Looks like we’re taking a rescue party to hell.”

“Who’s the damsel in distress?”  Astarion asked, tilting his head as his red eyes flickered over your blood-flecked form.

“Raphael.”

The plan was to use as much stealth as possible. The vaults of Mephisto had been broken into not long ago, according to Raphael, so it was possible.  A direct confrontation with the archdevil himself was out of the question.  

The diabolist in Baldur’s Gate took some convincing, but in the end you were able to push enough gold across the counter to seal the deal.  

“Very well.  Though I warn you, you’ll not return alive or with your souls intact.”

“Yes, yes.”  You waved the woman off, her visage reminding you of Korilla. “Believe me, I’ve heard it all before.”  Your eyes scanned the musky shop. Do you have anything that will locate a specific fiend?”

With a Locate Creature spell scroll ready in your bag you watched as the diabolist created for you a portal. Ice crystals immediately crusted on the edge of the black abyss, the wind coming from the portal nearly freezing your shoes to the floor.

“Quickly, and remember the disguises!”  She ushered you and your party through, the frigid darkness enveloping you with a grim finality.

Through cold halls you’d snuck, invisible fingers cold as death scraping along your back and through your hair as you passed beneath torches of blue flame.

Time lost all meaning here.  Your eyes began to play tricks on you. The only thing keeping your mind focused was the spell lighting the edge of your vision with a warm glow, growing brighter as you hurried to where Raphael was being held.

An age, or an hour had passed.

The wrought iron door, so cold to the touch it burned, swung noiselessly inward, admitting you to an octagonal shaped room. On the far wall you saw him, his form dark, chained by one wrist to the wall.

“Raphael.”  You hissed, unexplainable relief flooding your frozen veins when his head moved in response.  

Your companions waited by the open doorway, keeping watch from the shadows.  You snuck as quickly as you could to where Raphael was restrained. His glowing eyes looking down upon you with consternation before recognition slowly dawned across his sharp features.

You held up a hand, silencing him as he opened his mouth. Movement could be heard from outside the prison room. You were running out of time.

“Can you get us out of here if I free you?”  You hissed, still keenly aware of the nature of the devil.

Raphael nodded, his tail moving to and fro in agitation.  Something about his vitality seemed to be missing, you had never imagined seeing him in such a state.  It was unsettling.

The matter of removing the singular shackle proved to be more challenging than you’d thought.  Astarion’s lockpicking skills proved futile.

“It’s a magical seal.”  Raphael breathed, his voice low yet sharp with anger born of desperation. “Now’s not the time to play the fool.”

You gave him a severe look which he matched right back at you, his eyes sparking flame.

You raised a hand to the ice-covered metal, about to dispel the magic surrounding the lock. “You owe me a favor.  A big one.  I don’t know yet what I will ask of you, but you will deliver. Understood?”

Raphael’s gaze scorched you for a moment, it was clear he was furious with his current predicament. But he had no choice, and both of you knew it.

He nodded curtly.

You cast your spell.

Raphael’s wrist broke free with the sharp sound of metal splintering. His hand closed tight around your arm, the dungeons of Mephisto melted away as you and your companions were yanked unceremoniously back to the material plane.

At least, your companions were.  Deposited non-gently upon the hard ground of your camp.

Raphael kept hold of you.  Taking you back to the foyer of his house. The house which still lay in semi ruin from its previous sacking.

He was angry.  Each step he took crackled fire and promise of swift vengeance.

“Raphael…”  You said hesitantly, following him down into the dining hall.  “Raphael, Korilla-”

“Is dead.”  Under the glow of firelight, you could properly see the state he was in. You winced when he turned to face you. “I know. Though not as dead as those who dared pillage my home, the fools.”

“Do you know who?”  You remained wary as you watched him conjure an armchair and sink down into it.

Raphael ignored your question, he issued orders in the abrasive Infernal tongue, seemingly into thin air.  His fingers clicked and a spark of flame licked around them.  Unseen servants began bustling around, clearing the debris and wreckage.  Setting the House of Hope back in order.

Raphael leveled his gaze upon you.  His expression was not unkind, it was calculating.  He had underestimated you and overestimated himself.  Not a mistake he’d make again.

“Why?”  No flowery words, no ado.

“I still need the hammer.”  You had the response prepared, having known the question was coming.

“You could have hunted down the thieves without my help.”  Raphael narrowed his hellfire eyes. “Why come to my aid?”

“Korilla asked me to.  It was her dying wish.”  You fidgeted under his piercing presence. “Besides, you’re a useful ally.  I still need your help to save the world.”

Raphael arched a brow, unconvinced. “Half-truths are still considered lies, dear.  But there are matters I must attend to.”  He stood, restless.  

“Will your father come for you again once he realizes you’re gone.”  The question came before you could stop yourself.

“Concerned for me?”  Raphael appraised you, a knowing tilt to his head. “No.  He will not.”

You didn’t argue, Raphael was clearly on edge, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

You rubbed circles against your aching temple. “Well, seems we have some thieves to track down.  A hammer to retrieve.”

Raphael looked as though he was biting back a sharp retort.  He chewed on his words, looking you over. “Yes.”  He growled, infernal fire flickering off his form. “You may watch as I peel their souls from the writhing mortal flesh.”

In an unexpected move, Raphael strode to you and took your hand, placing a kiss to your knuckles. His breath hot on your still chilled skin. “You may even assist me, if you so desire.”  He straightened.

That was as close to a “thank you” as you were going to get.

You set your jaw grimly. “When do we start?”

[neptuneiris]

for the crown (02/03)

and then suddenly i cared even less, too broken to stay.

pairing: prince!aemond × lowborn!reader

summary: you gave yourself to him, you love him, he said that despite your low status at court, he will still marry you, because you are his, the woman who was his friend since childhood, until the war comes.

word count: 8.6k

previous part • next part • series masterlist

and here I am again, realizing that I can't anticipate that it will be two parts only, because if I leave it at two, the chapter will be extremely long, so there will be part 3 haha. thank you for reading, enjoy!🥰

warnings: sex content, angst, denigration, abusive behavior, possessiveness, infidelity, betrayal.

If Aemond thought he would have a perfect escape with you after he decided to take you with him to Harrenhal as well, he was wrong.

With only a few dresses, a few pairs of shoes and your night gown, you emerge from your chamber holding Aemond's hand, both of you having a firm grip on each other, ready to march to DragonPit and eventually fly to Harrenhal.

With the entire Prince Regent's army ready to listen to Sr. Criston Cole's command upon seeing Aemond's signal in the skies, your prince is interrupted in the middle of his action as he is basically stealing you away by his mother, his grandsire and also your father right at the gates to leave the Keep.

Your father watches you completely surprised, ready and willing to leave with the prince, while the Queen Dowager and Otto Hightower watch Aemond completely confused and alert.

Also both watching you basically not understanding anything.

"Aemond, what is the meaning of this?"

"What are you doing?"

His mother and grandsire instantly inquire, clearly disapproving of this madness, but Aemond couldn't care less, watching the three of them indifferently.

While you start to worry and basically hide behind him, not letting go of his hand.

"Y/N?"

Your father calls you softly, confused and uncomprehending, looking for your gaze.

But when you look back at him, he knows you've already made your choice, so he begins to get more alert and seriously worried.

"What are you doing?"

But you don't answer him, you can't.

Sorrowful, you seek more reassurance and support from Aemond, basically leaning closer to him, holding his hand a little tighter, revealing your nerves and your fear at having been discovered.

This Aemond notices instantly and stands in front of you with a determined and firm stance without letting go of your hand, facing this alone knowing that none of the three of them stand a chance against him.

"Y/N, come, please," your father pleads as he sees worried the prince's behavior, raising one of his hands in your direction.

"She will do no such thing, my Lord."

Aemond finally speaks, drawing the attention of the three of them as well as yours, watching him over his shoulder,

"Lady Y/N will come with me to Harrenhal. In fact we must leave now and this is not up for discussion," he makes it clear almost threateningly.

Your father immediately exchanges glances with the Queen, more than concerned and demanding that something be done about it, but the Queen Dowager also continues to stare at her son completely confused and as if she does not recognize him.

"Aemond, you can't do this," she tells him gently wanting to talk some sense into him.

"Have you forgotten about your betrothed? Lady Baratheon?" his grandsire inquires him seriously, "Her father is fully supporting you in this because of that betrothal. And when Lord Borros finds out you are enjoying the company of another woman he will not be very pleased and will call off his men."

"And that won't be very wise of him," he says completely disinterested, "It would be unwise for Lord Borros to no longer give me his support if he doesn't want all of Storm's End to burn."

"That's not how things work, Aemond," his mother tells him worriedly, watching him intently.

"I think that's exactly how things work, mother," he tells her in a more serious tone, "After all, I'm not breaking off the betrothal and eventually I'll have to marry his daughter or not?"

This immediately gets your attention, but right after Aemond says those words, he lightly squeezes your hand with his, as a signal.

He has told you that when the war is over, he will marry you and that he promised you. He's not meaning all this now, it's just a way for the two of you to finally leave.

"Aemond, you still can't do this, you're betrothed," she insists.

"And what about Lady Y/N?" his grandsire points out to him, "According to the news, she is also betrothed."

"I don't care. She's coming with me whether you like it or not," he says as a final word.

"My prince…"

Hour father quickly steps forward to speak, worried and almost anguished.

"I beg you not to do this, you cannot take her away, please," he begs, "Lord Hand is right, she is also betrothed. If you take her now her betrothed will not be pleased and will put her maidenhead in question. Because of this my daughter will probably not be able to find a good husband in the future."

His words and behavior makes you feel sorry for your father, as he is right. Basically Aemond will ruin you for all men by taking you away, that action already speaking for itself, as the two of you share a more intimate relationship.

What your father and his family don't know is that he has basically already ruined you by claiming your maidenhead. But of course neither Aemond nor you will say it out loud.

"Don't worry, my Lord," he tells him still disinterested, "I'm sure by the end of all this, you and I will come to a generous agreement for my indiscretion."

Still, this does not reassure your father at all.

"B-but, please my prince, you c-can't…" he begins to speak nervously, looking at you pleadingly, "You can't take her away, please. I have already come to an agreement with her betrothed, they'll be waiting for her to discuss the wedding, please—

"I've told you not to worry, Lord Y/L/N," Aemond tells him again seriously and annoyed.

"But…

"You dare to question your prince's order?"

Aemond inquires him instantly, watching him serious, threatening and expectant, while your father purses his lips into a thin line as Aemond continues to threaten him with his gaze, then looks at his mother and grandsire in the same manner.

"You are also against my own word?"

"Aemond, please," his mother pleads with him as well.

"Don't be a fool, Aemond. Enough of this nonsense," his grandsire tells him seriously, "You are making a big mistake that will cost you the battle if you lose soldiers."

"That will be my problem, not yours," he tells her in the same manner as he does, ready to resume his journey again, "Besides we are not going to lose anything and I advise you not to question me anymore, any of the three of you," he warns them.

These are the final words of Prince Aemond, the Prince Regent, the one who currently holds the crown and carries the weight of the entire Realm on his shoulders, with his other hand he takes your waist and begins to lead the two of you on your way out of the Keep.

The only thing you can feel at that moment as you walk away is the worried and anguished look on your father's face, while you feel sorry for him.

However, you don't want to marry this Lord Beesbury, you don't even know him and you know that your father blindly gave your hand in marriage.

But what you didn't expect is that you would have to walk away from your father, leaving him alone, when it has always been the two of you against the world, which is what really weighs on you and grieves you as you continue to walk away from him with no idea when you will see him again.

You also feel the stares of the Queen Dowager Alicent and Lord Otto on both of you, who probably don't even have any idea how to react to this, not even being in a position to do anything about it.

But Aemond doesn't even care about them and steadily and willingly continues his pace with you by his side, him leading you towards one of the horses that will take you both fast towards DragonPit.

Soon you both find yourselves flying towards Harrenhal, with Sr. Criston leading Aemond's entire army on the ground towards the cursed castle as well.

However… had you known what would await you later in that very place, a cursed castle where its curse never leaves and curses also the people who dare to set foot there, you would never have let Aemond take you with him.

Still, when your prince takes you with him to Harrenhal, you feel important.

You feel you are one of his complements to go on and win the war, like an incentive to gain motivation and strength.

At first, the black and dark castle scares you, knowing perfectly well its reputation and curse, but Aemond is the one who motivates you to stand by his side and help him in everything he needs.

He specifically asks you to settle in his chamber, where it will also be your room, while he once he takes over the castle, begins to plan strategies and move his entire army, alert to any threat and securing his position in Harrenhal.

You know very little about his planning because you know that his matters must be of no interest to you, so during the day, you can only find entertainment in books and learning a little more about the dark castle.

The only thing you attend to is your prince, waiting each night at the end of his exhausting days, as you can't really do much in these circumstances, only being available to him.

This fact does not bother you, but your boredom increases every day considering that you only see Aemond in the nights and very early the next day he is no longer by your side because he goes to attend to his duties.

In your loneliness, you often think about writing a letter to your father, just to let him know that you are well.

But you know that Aemond probably wouldn't be too pleased and you don't know if your father wants to hear from you after what happened.

You wouldn't be surprised if he was furious with you… after all, what you did was very unwise.

You could have stood firm with Aemond, you could have supported your father and attended to your duty properly, yet you did not.

And in the end the only thing that gives you comfort is that at least, by the end of these difficult times, you will finally marry Aemond. And by the time your father sees that, he will probably forgive you.

Today is another one of those days when Aemond has a lot on his mind, taking his position very seriously and getting frustrated when one thing doesn't turn out the way he expected.

It's a lot to handle even though he has Sr. Criston by his side, but that doesn't seem to be enough.

He constantly sends reports to Kings Landing with his position and what is currently happening, understanding that even though Aegon is injured, still his brother wants to be aware of everything, considering he is not at the Keep to protect them in case of anything.

There are countless times when Aemond does not rest properly as he has so much to think and do. And when he finally heads to his chamber almost at the Hour of the Wolf, you help him to get all that stress out of his system.

Aemond lets out a sigh as he lets his head fit all the way back, with his eye closed, as you begin to slowly move up and down his entire hard, heavy, swollen length, in need of release.

You moan and place your hands on his bare, firm chest for support, beginning to move your hips up and down in a more consistent pace, moving back and forth and even circling at times.

Aemond at all times lets you take control, which normally it is not usual for you to do as he prefers it to be him in charge, however this is another one of those nights where he is too tired not to let you ride him.

You groan and begin to move your hips faster and harder, as Aemond moans low and holds your waist firmly, watching as your bodies come together and as all of him repeatedly enters you.

You watch him in complete delight, his beautiful face contracted in pleasure, his brows furrowed and his lips parted, sighing and leaving marks on your skin with his long fingers.

You smile and lean fully into him, still moving, as you bring one of your hands to his hair, stroking it gently, and then bring your lips to his ear.

"Do you like it, my King?"

This only fills Aemond more with pleasure, who grunts and makes you increase the speed of your movements, as you moan loudly and feel him deliciously also ground on his feet and penetrate you harder.

The sound of skin on skin, your juices with his sweat and now Aemond claiming one of your breasts as he takes the nipple into his mouth, only makes you moan more in pleasure.

"Oh yes, my King. Just like that, please."

You whine, moaning and leaning further into him.

"Oh fuck—yes," he murmurs into your breasts, kneading them completely to his liking, "Yes, my Lady. Oh Gods."

You sigh and moan louder when Aemond suddenly takes all your hair in one of his hands, making it into a fist, to forcefully pull you down as he raises his hips in a firm upward motion, penetrating you hard and hitting exactly your nerve core.

All the air escapes your lungs and that explosion inside you begins to grow as Aemond penetrates you in that steadier way, not letting go of your hair, holding you tight.

"Are you going to cum?" he asks you in a deep husky voice.

"Yes," you moan, "Oh—fuck," you whimper.

"Cum, cum all on my cock, my sweet girl."

Then you are no longer thinking straight and become completely absorbed in the moment as he brings one of his hands between your bodies and begins to stroke his thumb over your most sensitive spot, causing you to close your eyes tightly, arch your back and continue to move with more fervor.

"Yes, yes, just like that," you moan, "Please, don't stop."

"Look at you," he grins, "Making a mess."

"Please, my King."

He grunts and increases his speed more as he again begins to suck on one of your nipples and then everything about you explodes in a delicious and more than satisfied way as Aemond fucks you hard across your peak, seeking his own release.

And by the end of the night, with one hard, strong, final thrust, he spills all of his seed inside you, filling you completely.

You let yourself fall completely on top of him, just as exhausted and breathing fast, catching your breath, as Aemond continues all soft and warm inside you.

You relax your lips and lazily raise your gaze to him, while still remaining on top of his hard, strong body, to see him also catching his breath, calming his heart rate and looking so tired.

You leave a soft kiss on his lips and move off on top of him to lie down next to him.

As every night, Aemond pulls your body to him and hugs your back as the two of you begin to be carried away by sleep, both of you more than satisfied, especially him after so much pressure and stress.

This is the way you can help him and be there for him. Honestly you don't complain, because as each time Aemond takes you, everything becomes more and more intense, already being more of a necessity.

Even during the day, one of his guards seeks you out and lets you know that the prince has requested your presence immediately in the room where Aemond plans his strategies and has meetings with all his advisors.

Arriving there, you expected anything but Aemond needing to fuck you right there in his chair and where it is a public place, even though only he and you is here.

"Try not to make too much noise, my love."

That's all he says to you and then makes you start riding him again, while you hold on and lean on his shoulders, moaning into his neck, while he listens to the sounds you make only for him and continues to demand that you move faster, harder and deeper.

You let your whole head fall back, closing your eyes in pleasure and you part your lips, as Aemond attacks and leaves marks all over your neck, grunting and holding you as if his life depended on it.

You move deep from front to back and he moans into your neck.

"Oh fuck—just like that, don't stop," he tells you hoarsely.

You gasp and muffle your moans as he desperately makes your breasts spring free through the collar of your dress and attacks them like a hungry man, as he brings both hands to the soft skin of your ass, kneading both your cheeks.

You cry out from the pleasure and continue to move deep from front to back.

"Yes, Aemond, yes," you moan.

"Always so responsive," he murmurs with delight.

He gazes proudly at your hard nipples, slightly red and swollen from his caresses, as he brings his hand to your center and strokes you with his thumb firmly, feeling all your juices sliding down his fingers.

"You like it, don't you?" he watches you with a grin, "You like it when I fuck you hard."

"Yes," you say as best you can, in a whisper.

He grunts and stops your movements abruptly to suddenly charge you and rise from his chair, as he sits you on the edge of the big table in front of him where the maps perch and begins to penetrate you faster and harder.

That time you had to drink moon tea again, considering that the dragon seed is strong and Aemond insists that always after every act, you must drink it, not even being able to let yourself forget it.

So the days go by when the unexpected news arrives about the battle of Lakeshore, where Aemond loses numerous men, all from the Lannister army, where they were attacked by a Northern army, being a major loss for the Greens and a victorious battle for the Blacks.

Aemond, furious, orders the death of Simon Strong and his entire family, as well as nearly killing the soldier who told him the news, blinded by his own anger and madness.

While you confined to your room, you can only wait for him to return to you when he has taken care of the whole matter, but with that great loss, Aemond and everyone begins to realize that they are losing the war.

If before Aemond didn't sleep and rest properly, with this news he doesn't anymore, to which you can only continue to wait, worried about him but unable to truly do anything, spending days in which you don't see Aemond anymore.

Until one night, the unexpected news arrives, but this time only for you.

"Where is Prince Aemond, Ellya?" you ask the maid who has been at your disposal since you arrived here, "Have you seen him? Do you know what he is doing with his men?"

She gives you a somewhat wary and curious look at the same time.

"You haven't heard, my Lady?"

This immediately catches your attention and you watch her completely attentively.

"About what?"

She blinks a couple of times, watching you a little surprised, to which this draws your attention more and alerts you, watching her intrigued, while she looks hesitant for a few moments, not quite sure if she is the one to tell you the new news.

"Ellya, what's wrong?" you urge her, beginning to worry.

She swallows hard, lets out a long breath and looks at you with some pity.

"The prince has approached the witch, the witch of Harrenhal," she lets you know, "For days now it seems the two of them started having their meetings."

You watch her more than attentively and confused at the same time, having no idea who this witch is, but instantly getting a bad feeling about the whole thing. You ask Ellya to explain who she is and she tells you everything.

Alys Rivers.

That's her name and apparently she's a bastard of Lyonel Strong, the once lord of Harrenhal who burned to death along with his son right here in this castle.

When you then remember… she is that same woman that Aemond did not give the order to kill and apparently spared her life when he killed Simon Strong and all his kin.

Instantly your assumptions are correct when Ellya tells you that this woman possesses dark magic and those kinds of abilities through witchcraft. And again you don't get that good feeling if Aemond has searched for her and is apparently having meetings with her.

Certainly after knowing this, you can't ask Aemond anything about it since you don't see him and don't dare go looking for him with all the duties he has to attend to.

However, the uncertainty lingers and all the time you think about it, feeling worried just imagining Aemond having encounters with her and also scared about what she might do.

Until one night finally the opportunity presents itself when you see the night through the small windows in comparison to the Keep, unable to fall asleep, when the doors open and you turn to see Aemond enter the chamber after so many days.

"Aemond?"

You call out to him in your soft, sleepy voice from trying to fall asleep but you simply can't, thinking all the while of him and her, the witch, as he watches you without at all expecting to hear your voice.

And even though you shouldn't, at that moment you feel sorry for him. You can tell he hasn't slept well in days, his whole face shows it to you, the extreme tiredness reflecting through his body as well, truly worrying you.

And that's why he actually watches you without having any expression on his face, leaving his sword on one of the tables and starting to take off his belts, preparing to sleep.

"Keep sleeping. I'll join you in a moment," he tells you just the same without much emotion in his voice.

"Where have you been?" you still ask him, carving your eyes, watching him closely, "I haven't seen you in days."

He lets out a long breath, turning his back on you and continuing to remove his clothes.

"Are you forgetting that we are at war?" he asks, "What do you mean, where have I been? Of course I have been leading all my men and attending to my duties as Protector of the Realm."

You press your lips together, instantly understanding that you must not upset and irritate him any more than he clearly already is. Still, like the stubborn one you are, you can't help yourself and again speak in his direction.

"I know, Aemond," you say softly, "But that's not what I meant. I meant that you didn't come here to sleep."

"I barely have time to sleep, Y/N," he tells you definitely more serious, alerting you, "And now that I finally have the chance, you're not letting me have my five minutes of peace," he tells you bitterly.

"No, Aemond, I swear that's not my intention," you instantly clarify, concerned.

"Then?" he looks over his shoulder at you, serious and clearly irritated, "You're going to let me be able to undress and sleep in peace?"

"Yes, of course," you tell him instantly, bewildered, "I-I just wanted…" you bite your lips, nervous, "…to know where you'd been," you mumble barely audibly.

And even though Aemond has heard you, he still doesn't say anything else, still taking off his clothes and with every movement feeling more tiredness all over his body, urgently needing to lie down on the bed and sleep as much as he can.

But you continue to watch him more attentively than before, Alys Rivers not leaving your thoughts and what he has talked or has been doing with her, that precisely not leaving you alone.

So in the middle of the silence, you dare to ask him in a soft murmur, watching him carefully.

"You were with Alys Rivers?"

Then suddenly Aemond stops his movements abruptly, slowly turning his head towards your direction, but only a part of it, barely managing to watch you over his shoulder, the tension in his whole body being more than visible.

When without further ado he resumes his movements, saying absolutely nothing to you and turning his back to you, while you continue to watch him attentively and expectantly for his response, whatever it may be.

And it is not until Aemond finishes processing your question that he finally answers you or rather answers you with another question in a serious and cold voice.

"Who told you that?"

You swallow hard, truly not wanting to give Ellya away.

"I heard it."

"From who? Where?"

He demands to know, more serious and annoyed, turning fully towards you. That's when you see his dark face, clearly annoyed, you stare at him bewildered, really not understanding his behavior.

"What's wrong? Why didn't you want me to know?"

At this he continues to stare at you annoyed, his lips pressed into a thin line and clearly irritated by your questioning, while you, starting to feel fearful, still continue to stare at him with your whole face soft but in confusion.

Aemond lets a few seconds pass, when he averts his gaze from yours for a moment as he licks his lips and finally lets out a long breath to turn his back on you again.

He reassures himself, having already taken into account from before that it would be impossible for you not to hear the name of the witch of Harrenhal and also how he would find himself in her company at times.

However, in a way I had hoped that you wouldn't find out and wouldn't question anything about it.

But with everything going on, him losing the war and resorting to desperate measures, there is basically no such thing as his patience and good humor.

"She's helping me with some war matters, nothing else."

He tells you coldly as you watch him and listen completely attentively, not understanding his answer.

"War matters?" you repeat.

"Yes, war matters," he repeats back to you as well, serious.

"And it's not something I can help you with?" you ask him without understanding.

He lets out a long sigh again this time, his patience again beginning to hang by a thread.

"No Y/N, you don't know all of Riverlands and the most convenient spots where I can send and command my men," he tells you serious, "Nor do you know the secret paths and where they might attack us by surprise, but she does."

At this you remain completely silent, watching him with your lips parted, thinking about his words.

This really continues to give you a very bad feeling, frustrating you because even though he has explained, you still don't feel convinced and can't do anything about it, not wanting to bother him anymore.

But it strikes you how he has been annoyed that you have asked him about her, that you have talked about her, so bringing up the matter again would not be smart on your part.

Still, you can't stay quiet.

"Nothing else?"

"Yes, nothing else," he tells you quickly and still in his serious tone.

You don't say anything else, watching him attentively, while he remains completely naked in front of you, as he usually likes to sleep. And still not feeling convinced, you decide not to bother him anymore and return to your same position as before to be lucky enough to sleep this time.

But you can't.

You continue watching the void, when you feel Aemond's weight sinking on the bed next to you, while you turn your back to him and think about his words, also about the witch and the two of them.

You press your lips together and finally close your eyes, needing to sleep to stop thinking.

However, this one night Aemond doesn't even come close towards you. Normally he always wraps one of his arms around your body and pulls you close to his body to sleep close, but nothing, he doesn't do anything.

And the next morning you wake up, he is gone.

Your days again pass without seeing Aemond, always being in your chamber and barely getting any news about what is going on with your prince and his side of the war.

At least you find comfort in your maidservants, with whom you talk and give you some company.

You also wander around the castle only a little during the day, not lasting long for fear that Aemond might find out and get annoyed with you not having any guards with you. But considering you don't have much to do, this comforts you as well.

When one day, the whispers in the cursed castle become too loud and rumors reach your ears: your prince is sharing a bed with the witch of Harrenhal.

This shocking and devastating news you don't want to believe, thinking that it is simply impossible because Aemond is yours, just as you are his. Or so you thought.

But even though you try to convince yourself that Aemond wouldn't do such a thing to you, betray you with another woman, let alone a witch, sadly it all starts to make sense to you.

He hadn't gone to sleep in his chamber, you also chambered, basically you didn't see him at all. And even though he told you he barely has time to sleep, he still must have… but not in the room you both share.

You really don't want to believe it, especially since he told you himself that she's only been helping him with war matters, nothing else.

But you knew all along that he wasn't being honest with you, you had that intuition and these rumors just confirmed it.

It is not until you see Aemond again after severe days without him being in your presence that you can finally confront him about it.

"You lied to me, didn't you?"

You ask him with your soft tone but sad at the same time, disappointed, with tears wanting to start coming out of your eyes when he watches you and he doesn't even need to ask you what you mean, because he instantly knows.

But it hurts you more when he lets out a long breath, it being another one of those times where you both barely see each other and he's already upset and annoyed by your behavior.

"See? This is why I didn't tell you, because of how you react," he tells you serious and watching you badly, tired.

"So you were planning to never tell me?" you ask sadly.

"You don't understand Y/N. You don't understand anything."

You look at him hurt.

"And how am I supposed to understand if you don't talk to me?" you ask confused, "Is this why you decided to bring me here with you? For me to stand here waiting for you while you enjoy the company of another woman?"

He lets out a huff as he rolls his eye in annoyance.

"You're getting it all wrong," he tells you serious, "I'm not doing it for my own satisfaction, I'm doing it because it's necessary and in order to win the war."

You continue watching him confused, not understanding what he is referring to or rather not understanding what that has to do with lying with her, to which Aemond, frustrated, explains to you in order to end this matter once and for all.

"Alys… she can see things, she knows things" he tells you, "Her power helps me to know what will happen next and what exactly I must do against the threats, what strategies to plan in order not to lose more of my men and thus win the war."

"And for that you must sleep with her?" you ask in pain.

"Getting that kind of information is not easy, Y/N," he tells you absurdly, "Of course she must have asked me for something in return and that is her form of payment."

You deny with your head, still watching him confused.

"But you don't necessarily have to pay her that way. You are the prince, she must obey you and in return for that… you can offer her gold or something else."

Crees que eso no fue lo mismo que yo pensé en ofrecerle?

"Do you think that wasn't the same thing I thought of offering her?" he inquires you annoyed, "Of course I did but she give me nothing."

And yet he decided to give her exactly what she wanted.

Your mind tells you, as you continue to watch him intently and pained, as he turns his back to you and you see him starting to take off his belts at the same time you feel that sharp pain in your chest, thinking about all the weeks he had been keeping this from you.

And when you asked him, he still lied to you.

"But…" you try to say, watching him sadly, "I'm sure you don't need her, Aemond."

He lets out a derisive, dry snort, shaking his head slightly, this hurting you instantly as well, but you continue to insist on changing his mind so that he doesn't have to do this… win the war through witchcraft.

"There are other ways that I know are more complicated and time consuming, but you can win and fairly, I know that," you observe him hopefully.

He laughs unfunnily, low and bitterly, as he turns to you again and looks at you as if you were a fool.

"How easy it is to talk when you're not the one serving the Realm and losing a war, isn't it?"

You watch him completely speechless, while he takes a couple of steps towards you watching you even in that way and completely upset and annoyed because you don't understand him.

You don't understand anything of what is happening and what he must be doing.

"What are you doing here besides warming my bed, hmm?"

He inquires you with a cruel tone, his words instantly being a dagger to your heart.

"Yes, it's true, I was the one who decided to bring you here with me and I made you a promise for the end of all this, didn't I?"

He asks you seriously and expectantly.

"But now the least you can do is to understand me and give me peace, whether you like what I have to do or not," he makes it clear in a threatening tone, "And what I must do now Y/N, for the good of the Realm and to secure my brother's Throne, is to keep Alys on my side because I need her and I need her very much."

This last is completely etched in your mind, watching it attentively, your lips half open and the first tear falling down your cheek, under the attentive and annoying gaze of Aemond, who in spite of this does not care and turns away to continue undressing.

Then the other tears run down both of your cheeks, feeling more intense that sharp pain in your chest, hurting you completely by his insensitivity and how even though you know he is sleeping with another woman, he still doesn't care about you.

When has Aemond ever needed you the way he has told you he needs her?

Never.

You thought that bringing you here with him was his way of telling you that he needs you, but now that you have to share him with another woman and he apparently doesn't care about your feelings, you think it was all a bad idea.

You swallow the tight lump in your throat and clear your tears as you avoid completely breaking down by being in the same place as him.

"Perhaps I should go back to King's Landing," you say amidst the silence and tense atmosphere, avoiding hearing yourself as broken as you really are, "Perhaps I should talk to my father, apologize and do my duty by getting married."

Again Aemond lets out an unfunny and completely incredulous laugh, again turning to watch you but with the difference that he is actually watching you slightly amused and expectantly at the same time.

"Don't tell me, Y/N."

He watches you intently.

"And who are you going to marry, hmm? Or rather who or who will want to marry you?"

He asks you still amused.

"Haven't you thought that I've already ruined you for any other man by the simple fact of having brought you here with me? Haven't you thought that with that alone people can assume an intimate relationship between the two of us? Although it's not really an assumption, it's a fact, isn't it? For a long time now."

Tears again steadily stream down your cheeks, watching him with all the pain in your gaze, as he again averts his gaze from yours and again shakes his head in disbelief.

And you know he's right.

But you don't think it's fair that he can get annoyed with you when you call the attention of other men, but you are in a much worse position, he doesn't care how you feel because he is the man, he is the prince and you must understand him.

So it doesn't matter that he can have as many women as he wants at his disposal, in any way, while you should be reserved only for him.

"Stop crying," he tells you cold and serious, without looking at you, "If you feel so bad for Alys, understand that this is just for the moment, it will all be over when I win the war, so stop this foolishness."

And there it is again… his insensitivity.

And after that… everything changes.

That night Aemond again doesn't try to touch you or hug you during his sleep, nor is it as if you would want him to, considering that he had probably been in her company before.

That is why now knowing that Aemond warms her bed, you no longer desire his touch or even his presence.

And not only because of that, but also because of the way he had made you feel with his cruel behavior and with his cruel words, and that painful feeling just won't go away, not even him realizing how much he did and does hurt you.

Fortunately you continue not seeing him very often, in all that time just locked in your chamber, not even having the courage to talk and enjoy the company of the maids as usual, wanting to be alone all the time, going back to your days of having no appetite and no mood for anything.

If Aemond notices, he doesn't say anything to you or do anything about it, just watches you intently every time he appears in the chamber, where you just greet him and nothing else, not really giving him attention like before, your whole gaze dull, empty, disinterested and sad.

You can smell a strong scent, like citrus and a bit sweet at the same time on his clothes sometimes when he comes to the chamber very late at night, certainly belonging to her and of course he must not even notice it.

And not only that, cautiously you can see some marks on his neck and chest as he begins to undress, to which you lie on the bed with your back to him and completely covering yourself with the sheets, letting a few tears fall without him seeing you and without making a sound until you fall asleep.

Now all you think of when you see him is him in the company of his witch, receiving everything she offers him, her visions and letting him know everything he wants to know, in exchange for sleeping with her.

It is not until days later that he slowly begins to approach you again to caress and touch you.

At first you didn't let him turn your back to him and he started to caress you by putting his arm across your stomach, trying to pull you closer to him.

But when you stayed completely still and with your eyes full of tears, he felt the tension all over your body and at the end he let out a long sigh and stopped touching you, resigning himself.

You didn't understand why he needed that from you when he certainly always gets that from her.

That went on for a few more weeks, until Aemond was beginning to lose patience with not being able to have you that he finally lost it completely.

And you had to give in to pleasing him, letting him make you his after a considerable time. However, he was no longer making you feel anything.

Just the thought that he had previously been inside her and now he's inside you looking like he can't get enough… it was too much.

Aemond doesn't notice your lack of disinterest as he begins to fuck you, nor does he notice how your heart breaks into pieces. And it's not until you stop being responsive to his touch that he's finally disconcerted.

Without feeling your juices that made penetration easier, he gasps and lifts his gaze to you, peeling his face from your neck, watching you intently and curiously, still entering you continuously.

"What is it, my lady? Doesn't it feel good?"

You don't answer.

You don't even look him in the eye.

At this, Aemond kisses you with need, moving in and out of you faster, needing your response, for you to feel the same as he does, as before.

But it doesn't feel good, not good at all.

After that night, unable to stand being cooped up in your chamber any longer for the whole day, you decide to go out into the hallways and eventually end up in the kitchens to offer your hands to the maids for whatever it is they need.

You can't even stand your loneliness anymore, so you finally enjoy the company of the maids and help out as needed, even taking your meals with them and even returning at night to the chamber, almost at the same time as Aemond.

Surprisingly, he notices this and questions you about doing maid duties as well, telling you that you have no need, to which you without much emotion tell him that it's all right, that you like to help, not to say anything else to him and clearly not to give more importance to the matter.

In those moments is when he starts to get tired of your behavior, when the truth is that even he doesn't understand himself.

Before it bothered him that you cared too much about him and that you questioned absolutely everything, but now that you have stopped doing it, it also bothers him your lack of interest in him when before you were always there at his disposal, also bothering him your cold behavior.

But it bothers him more that you don't even respond to him anymore when he makes you his.

However, he knows he can't blame you for her, for Alys, because you know what he is doing with her in the darkness of her chamber in exchange for what.

But it still bothers him.

Fortunately for you, he decides to give you time and not force you into anything again if you don't want him to, to which you could only feel relieved, although you still have to endure how he hugs you during his sleep but nothing more.

It is not until one night that you return to your chamber later than usual, since you lost track of time and were all the time in the company of the maids, that you think that Aemond must probably still be attending to his duties or that he must already be asleep… or that he must be in the company of his witch.

The latter is what you believe the most, not surprisingly. In the end, however, it does surprise you.

About to open the door to your room, you don't have to, as it opens on the other side and you find yourself face to face with a woman with pale skin, huge green eyes, long black hair and wearing a robe around her body, holding it with one of her hands.

Your eyes widen and you freeze completely, as she stares back at you with such intensity that it almost brings you to tears, but in the end it is not that, but the realization of what has happened here, in your chamber, which is in fact more yours than Aemond's.

You then watch behind her, where Aemond instantly watches you with an expression you can't really read, as he finishes buttoning his belt, with his entire torso naked and the clear marks on his neck.

Again… you feel that sharp pain in your chest, the sadness and humiliation hitting you hard, with your tears starting to want to spill out of your eyes and run down your cheeks, watching him with the most hurt look of all.

How could he dare?

You don't even expect anything else, you just run away from there, tears streaming down your cheeks instantly, as you hear Aemond say your name, quickly coming after you.

But you don't look back, not even wanting to look him in the eye, having no idea where you're really heading, but not in your greatest madness are you ever going to lie in that bed again, not even he having any respect for you in that regard.

Still Aemond is quicker and manages to catch up to you, grabbing you hard by your arm, demanding you to stop and watch him, pulling you closer to his body, to which you put up resistance and crying you try with all your might to get him to let go of you to get away from him, but he won't let you.

"Y/N! Look at me!"

You can't.

You don't want to.

He irritated, grabs you firmly with both hands, reluctantly stopping you, while you continue to cry and feel completely weak, everything about him, his grip on you when he had touched her on your bed before and that scent of hers also impregnated in him… it's too much.

"Let go of me."

You say pleadingly, sobbing, trying to pull away from him.

"Stop fucking acting like this!" he exclaims to you in annoyance.

You deny with your head.

"H-how could you?"

"Look at me," he demands.

"No! Let go of me!" you resist again, very hurt and very humiliated.

"I said look at me!"

He exclaims to you angrily, grabbing your face with both of his hands and making you look at him in a firm and demanding manner, his grip strong.

At this you stand completely still, but still crying and sobbing, trying to control yourself, but you cannot.

Thinking about it, about her and him already hurt you enough, but now having seen it… you can't stand it, as well as his touch now on you, finding it unpleasant.

And when you finally open your eyes and dare to look at him again, he is worried about noticing all that pain, rejection and displeasure.

However, he doesn't allow it and continues to hold you in that firm manner.

"Listen to me," he says seriously and firmly, "This was the last time, the last one."

You put up a resistance again, not believing his words at all, looking absurd in the midst of all your pain.

"Y/N!" he exclaims stopping you again, looking at you as honestly as possible, " It has been the last time, truly," he insists, "I promise."

You say nothing to him, just continue to cry almost silently, as he promises and assures you over and over again, wanting to reassure you, when the truth is you don't even believe him, so you make him believe that you do, to which he finally lets go of you.

"Go back to the chamber and wait there for me, she's gone," he tells you softly, but still firm and demanding.

And you are surprised how he dares in ordering you such a thing, while you just nod so you can finally get away from him and feeling relieved you do so, definitely not going back to that room, at all.

You find another empty chamber where you lie down on the bed right there and continue to let the tears flow freely from your eyes, trying to calm down little by little, feeling so lonely, so silly and as if you mean nothing.

It is not until after Aemond finishes talking to Alys and returns to the chamber expecting to find you there, but nothing.

He lets out a long breath, frustrated, only to later ask his guards where you've gone to find you in another chamber, completely balled up, asleep and with dried tears on your cheeks, your whole face suffering.

He lets out another long breath, running a hand through his face and hair, shuffling it in frustration, that he decides not to do anything else, just leave you alone to sleep, that being the least he can do for you after witnessing such a thing taking advantage of your absence.

Severe days has passed since that breaking point between you and Aemond, where neither of you have spoken about it.

He tried, of course, to explain to you so that he could properly ask for your forgiveness, but you never let him, not wanting or needing to hear anything from him, still too hurt and too humiliated to bear such thing.

Since then, you now sleep in that new chamber, this not being to Aemond's liking at first.

But acting so cold to him, not even being able to look him in the eye when he spoke to you and making you so tense in his presence, he understood that he could not force you to sleep with him if you did not wish to do so.

Aemond hated every moment when he did not wake up with you by his side, also when he could not touch you and make you his, or have the maids assist him in absolutely everything, when before it was only you.

If he kept his promise not to have any more meetings with Alys, you were no longer interested in knowing, only focusing on you and sometimes on him when he asked you for something, but always with that cold and indifferent behavior.

When the time of battle comes again.

He and his entire army prepares to march to a point where Alys had told him before that it would be where an army fighting for his half-sister would be and that is approaching Harrenhal.

Aemond awaits the return of Sr. Criston with a small but efficient army that he prepared for him by sending him and those men to the nearest house settlements of Harrenhal to demand that they bend the knee for his brother Aegon.

Once he returns with those men, they can finish preparing and stop that army of Rhaenyra's, having him more opportunity to protect his entire army from the skies and burn as much as he can.

You along with some maids provide food to the men who will go to battle, you also help with their supplies, walking back and forth under the watchful eye of Aemond being so helpful to his men, this not pleasing him but not being able to do anything about it either.

When an ambush happens.

Everything happens too fast, as suddenly a not very big army surrounds all of Aemond's surprisingly with black flags, symbol of Rhaenyra.

And then a man grabs you by force, takes you to the center of the whole ambush and then puts a dagger in your neck.

[littlenighttales]

Undertale Tarot Cards Review

These are from Fangamer.

So I’m only doing the Dreemurrs for now. Maybe more later.

Frisk:

So it’s Frisk. We see the knife and locket, then the stick and band aid.

I’m guessing this is either to tie the beginning to the end or to tie Chara and Frisk together (narra Chara theory go brrrr)

Toriel:

A fireball to reference her magic, of course. The shield because she’s your guardian (or it’s just to reference the Deltarune she has on her robe.)

A snail because snail pie, and a pie because, well, your momma cooks you good pies.

Flowey; Asriel

So Flowey and Asriel are my favorite of these. We see a pie and a locket to tie Asriel back to his best friend and his momma. But it’s also sad, because we see Asriel over Flowey sort of “falling into” his new form. We also see a hollow/clear soul, representing his lack of soul. I don’t think I need to explain the flower petals.

Meanwhile, Asriel’s card is, well…. He’s such a dork, haha. He has a childishly drawn meteor, heart, flower, and star to show that, despite his form and immense power, he’s still just a little kid playing pretend. The flower calls back to his mindset and who he is- Flowey.

There’s a lack of soul where Asriel has a cracked one in the bottom middle for Flowey’s card. Really rubbing in his soullessness. Artist really went after the poor little guy ):

Omega Flowey is just showing off his possession of six souls, with the torment of one more. Lots of flowers (and small Flowey faces) to show this is *his* world. He controls everything now. It also has a unique crown to show he’s the prince. Neat.

Hyper’s card has four save points, again representing the control he has, but also that you can SAVE something else. A rainbow save star over the center heart because it looks pretty. Also all those rainbow attacks.

Chara:

Chara is scratched out on the name here. From an out of game standpoint, it’s because *you’re* supposed to name Chara whatever you want. From a thematic standpoint, this might be because Chara is sort of erasing the past memories of her family and all that.

ATK, EXP, LV, and HP are here because, well, that ending speech. Also standard RPG terms. Chara being edgy and showing what a gamer she is.

Also the soul is being stolen.

This one’s just straight up creepy.

Asgore:

This one’s interesting.

The red soul in the middle, showing his goal, but on one side, the “frame” is broken. Maybe to show he is broken inside, he isn’t a fan of what he’s doing here. He wants to not do this. This is his breaking of the mercy button. He doesn’t want the mercy he knows Frisk will give.

The other symbols also represent the acts. A sword for attack, a sound wave to represent ACT, and a little bag to represent items. Also a Deltarune Angel at the top. Neato! This is on all of the cards, but I just figured I’d mention it on Asgore’s.

[nebulaafterdark]

Aegon from ‘pleasure of the crown’ is so funny yet frustrating. I’m trying to imagine what it’s like to be in the readers shoes…

Aegon: I love you so much. I’d go to the ends of the earth for you. I’d die for you. I’d live for you.

Reader: I love you too sweetie. Can you attend this council meeting on my behalf?

Aegon: ….anything but that 🫡

Ngl I totally understand the Aemond appeal in this one like I love ur aegon and I know he loves his kids and in any other circumstance if they were commoners etc he’d be doing a great job. It’s just that I think it’s important to lay strong foundations to take over and aegon kinda lacks in that department in terms of ruling at least in ‘pleasure of the crown’ aegon. For political reasons and bc aemond seems so devoted maybe from the get go aemond and reader shouldve been betrothed and maybe the reason why the reader loved aegon so much is out of proximity and forced closeness due to her ‘duty’. Then again idk love is complicated maybe even without duty aegon and reader would be in love they give soulmate vibes haha

Perhaps I’m over analyzing sorry nebula for the brain dump 😭 I read your response to another post and it had me rethinking things

It’s so silly that Aemond is watching them hold hands at the council meeting and he’s thinking, damn, she’ll never love me like that.

But honey, she’s just trying to stop Aegon from running away or crawling under the table 😂

I think she sees the world for what it is and so does Aemond. Aegon only sees her. This is best reflected when they’re looking at the stars they both see different things and then Aegon looks for a second and then he’s like you’re my moon and stars.

She understands that people will always question her inheritance because not only is she a woman, but also a bastard. Aemond understands that simply being married to Aegon is not going to stop people from passing judgment on her. Aegon is just like you’re gonna be great, they’re gonna love you, there’s nothing to worry about.

I think the world is burning and Aegon’s just looking at her thinking, you’re not on fire so it’s not important to me. Where is Aemond sees the fire and wants to put it out before it touches her.

Just different broken people loving in different broken way.

[oh-my-may]

LET'S TALK GENSHIN AND REMURIA AND ARLECCHINO BEFORE I FORGET AND WE'RE ALREADY IN SECOND HALF OF THE PATCH WHY DOES TIME FLY WHEN YOU'RE AN ADULT

I'm gonna start the post with a few paragraphs I wrote just a few days after the patch went live:

So I finished the first Remuria world quest - it was beautiful. And really not as long as I first expected it to be. I probably could have finished it on the first day if I wouldn't have been as tired as I was

First of all the new map is beautiful. You'd think after 3? patches of map expansions where we already got underwater stuff it would feel repetetive but somehow it looks and feels different and refreshing. Maybe because majority of the map are caves where you can walk normally or they're ruins... idk.

I couldn't help but draw parallels between Remuria and HSR's Penacony tho, especially look-wise, the talk of a dreamscape and the theme of music. Especially now after finishing Penacony 2.2 I can't help but feel the two are very similar in certain aspects... the motive of Harmony and Song and Peace and saving a people and Gods? Also the way Remuria looks is so similar to certain things in Penacony? I already said rhis in my post on HSR, this is absolutely no hate whatsoever. I reckon there's only so much you can do with these motives? It's interesting how differently it looks in both games tho.

So yeah, Remuria is beautiful. The music is an out of body experience and encapsulates the whole thing perfectly. I haven't explored all of the map yet, but I like the new mechanisms a lot. The floating books look so cool and just generally the significance of music through it all... *sigh* it's so enjoyable.

So far for Remuria... i definitely missed a few things I wanted to say but it's been like 2 weeks since I played this and I definitely forgot something haha

AS FOR ARLECCHINO THO

First of all she's broken omg. It is kind lf annoying that it'll take weeks to max out her talents, rn for me she's sitting at crowned NA and skill and burst are level 7 each. But she still hits for like over 50k with each normal attack when she has a bond of life. Don't even get me started on her with Yelan MY GOD.

Okay with that out of the way let me talk about her story quest. First of all I find it very intriguing that hyv gave up on the usual pattern of having the second weekly boss for a nation be tied to the Archon and their respective second story quest (besides Mond ig)... i mean yeah Fontaine's archon situatipn is very peculiar but technically Neuvilette has taken over the role for now, right? Neither him nor Furina getting a second story quest makes me think Neuvi's probably gonna get his way later because it'll be HUGE. Again I wanna say that lore wise Neuvi is my fav character... HES JUST SO FNDNDBDN. And Furina is probably gonna get a pretty "random" one at one point kinda like Yoimiya did or Cyno... like its gonna be a good quest but it'a gonna be random. ANYWAY

I wonder how much different I would habe perceived the quest if I hadn't watched the Animated Short about Arlecchino that they put on Youtube... like it's her whole backstory? I could see where the quest was going right from the beginning because of it... that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, tho

Childe's little surprise cameo made me so happy c: MY BOY. He's alive snd well AND IN FONTAINE. Let me remind ypu we last officially saw him in the last Atchon quest gwtting yeeted into a black hole by Skirk. Then it was mentioned at the end that he was being treated and sent gome to Snezhnaya. Well...

The whole cryptic talk between Arle and Childe was quite interesting... so this project by the Fatui, right? (Forgot the name rn bc it's been a few days since I played the quest) Is it fonna be significant for Natlans story? What does it entail?? THE TEASE NNNNGNNGHH

I wonder if at some point in the game we're actually gonna see Lyney become the new head of House of the Hearth. Like... it's mentioned quite a lot in his story as well as in everything that has tp do with the House and Sröecchino herself... I wonder 🤔

Throughout the story I was reminded that one of the first things we heard about her (Childes voiceline that came out in like??? 3.0 or so???). It was that she would turn her back on and betray the Harbingers (AND THE TSARISTA) without second thought. She even says this herself in her voicelines. I just wonder what her ultimate goal is? To free herself from the curse? Which btw they tell us nothing about in the story. Story is all about the House and its inner workings and Arle's feelings about it and plans for the future (which I love btw but still not quite understand)... we also casually get told that Arle is not even that old??? Like the whole thing with Crucabena is so recent that Freminet remembers her???? Amd Arle was maybe a Teenager when she killed her so like??? She's only around 10 years older than the kids????

So how come she's a descendant from Khaenri'ah? I don't know if I read somewhere abput it or if its a rumor but not confirmed or if its said in her personal story which I haven't read yet but... she'a from the crimson moon dynasty? Or has some ties to it? And her curse is definitely related to it BUT WHAT IS HER CURSE EXACTLY. WHY DOES SHE HAVE IT. If she's only in maybe her late 20s she couldn't have been an actual Khaenriahn citizen (same as Kaeya and he still gives me the same headache thinking about this) so how does it all tie together in the end?? Does it have to do with the God of time maybe??? (Nevermind if this is talked about in her personal story in her profile I haven't read that yet)

So yeah... the fight woth her was so cool. The animation??? I saw people get upset about the fact that Traveler couldn't beat her but I actually love that?? Like... She'a #4 of the Harbingers and has some curse probably tied to Khaenriah and she KILLED A HARBINGER WHEN SHE WAS A TEENAGER??? Traveler nlt being this almighty MC makes them so much mlre likeable like yeah... they are obv far from having their actual power back? It took us ... how many times to fight Shuki No Kami before we could defeat it in the final try to learn all the patterns? The game wants to tell us that there's much more powerful enemies in Teyvat and rhis is only the beginning. Let me tell you yeah we beat Signora but it was Raiden who killed her... it was Zhongli who subdued Azhdaha. We only healed Apep with Nahidas help. Traveler has never been able to easily defeat these big enemies, they always had help. Yeah they have been getting stronger, they've been getting access to more elements but the bis enemies are just getting stronger and bigger too... I wonder where that will lead. Maybe the twins are only gonna get their true power bavk once they're united... ANYWAY

Her weekly boss fight is cool too. Using different mechanisms again, with the whole Bond of Life thing and all. She does this one attack in her second phase that I just... can't get behind tho. Someone always has to be the victim, THE SACRIFICE, to get me through haha. Idk how to dodge or avoid that attack. The one where she floats above the arena and then these bombs? Idk? Come down and basically crash down on the whole arena and I haven't found a spot where you can aboid getting hit and therefore killed immediately idk.

So yeah that's all for now. Very excited to play Cyno's second story quest. Heard only good things so far about it, which is good because I really didn't like his first one 💀 probably gonna get around to play it one of these days. Same as with the rest of Remuria exploration, gonna need mlre Clorinde funds :3

(Gonna add screenshots later, it's been so long that the ones I took aren't saved in the PS App anymore 💀)

[gojocp]

tangled

cw: tangled au! reader wears a dress and has VERY long hair, geto as flynn ryder, reader as rapunzel featuring: geto suguru | 1 | 2

a/n: hello!! i hope you enjoy this au, i've loved this movie since i was a kid and rewatch it all the time! lmk how this is!!

the sound of running footsteps could be heard as geto suguru ran across rooftops and into the room holding the crown in the royal castle. right before entering, they go over the plan once more.

"okay, tie me to the rope, when i get the crown i'll tug on it. pull me up," he states with his arms out, waiting to be tied.

with a shared look, the twins nod and tie geto off. removing the roof's tile, they slowly lower him in.

nearing the crown, geto is about to grab it but a guard's sneeze interrupts him. "allergies suck, right?" geto asks, taking the crown and placing it in his satchel.

"yeah, tell me about it." the guard agrees, with a light laugh. "hey! wait-" he yells, realizing the questions came from behind him.

"see ya!" geto calls out, and takes off with the satchel, the twins following close behind. "we got the crown, let's head back."

but of course, stealing the royal crown is never easy. because when the guards eventually catch up and corner the three thieves, they have to turn and run in the opposite direction.

they eventually reach a dead end and are forced to climb.

"boost me, and i'll pull you guys up." suguru says, turning to look at them. they share a look and say,

"give us the satchel."

"wh- are you serious? you don't trust me?" suguru says, with faux-betrayal shown on his face. the twins just stare at him with a blank stare.

"ow." he continues, handing the satchel to them.

they put their hands together and boost him onto the hill, one arm out in expectancy.

"sorry," suguru starts, "my hands are full." he shows the satchel and speeds off.

"geto!!" the twin yells, cursing said 18-year-old as he runs away.

.・。.・゜✭・.

suguru runs and runs and eventually finds a tree to hide behind. he looks to his left and sees a 'wanted' poster of himself.

"oh, no. no, no no. this is terrible," he mumbles to himself. "they fucked up my nose. so badly."

before he has the chance to mourn over the god-awful poster, a palace horse catches him and decides to play tag, chasing after him in an attempt to retrieve the stolen satchel.

the horse catches up and the two wrestle for the satchel, tripping over a log and running off the cliff in the process. they hold onto each other but are eventually broken apart when the log they're on hits a large branch.

.・。.・゜✭・.

at the same time somewhere else:

"(y/n)! let down your hair!" you hear your mother call out from below the tower.

"coming!" you yell, swinging your hair over a very strong nail in the door and letting your hair down.

your mother ties herself up, tugs on the hair, and you pull her up.

"oh (y/n)! doing the same task every day without fail must be so very tiring, right dear?" she says, twirling your hair around her finger.

"oh, it's nothing mother!" you respond cheerfully.

"then i don't know why it takes so long!!" she quips. "i'm just teasing, dear. loosen up!"

"uh, haha" you let out a nervous chuckle. "anyways! i have something very important thing to tell you!" you share, gleefully.

"(y/n), look in the mirror. do you know what i see? i see a very beautiful, responsible, and intelligent young woman." your mother starts, staring at herself. "oh, you're there too!" she laughs teasingly.

"oh! okay, well as i was saying-"

"(y/n), mother's feeling very run down, how about i comb you're hair." she half asks, half demands.

"of course!" you say, quickly setting up a chair for her and a stool for yourself. as she walks closer, you push her into the chair, shove a comb in one hand and your hair in the other.

"flower gleam and glow let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine. heal what has been hurt, change the fate's design, save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine." you sing in one breath, your hair glowing and quickly fading to it's natural colour as quickly as it appeared.

"anyway! since you kinda keep cutting me off, i'll just say it! tomorrow's my birthday!!" you gleam, hugging your mother's arm.

"no, no, no, no. i clearly remember, your birthday was last year," she states, matter-of-factly, lightly shoving you off her arm.

"that's the thing about birthdays, they're an annual thing." you smile. "and what i really want for this birthday, and what i've wanted for every birthday..." you begin, mumbling.

"out with it." your mother demands, fed up with the mumbling.

"i want to see the floating lights!" you exclaim. "actually, i was hoping you would take me to see the floating lights." you correct, using you hair to pull back the curtains on the wall to reveal your painting.

"ah.. you mean the stars." she smiles.

"that's the thing. i've charted stars, and they're always constant. but these.. these happen on my birthday, and only on my birthday. and.. i can't help but feel they're meant.. for me.." you say, pulling back another curtain and showing a painting of stars.

letting out an exasperated sigh, your mother sits on the chair and states, "the outside world is a dangerous place (y/n), i've told you."

"i know but-"

"i knew one day you would want to leave the nest.." she starts, getting up.

"i knew someday you'd want to go explore.." she continues.

"but-"

"soon! but not yet, trust me pet." she interjects. "mother.. knows best." she finishes, leaving your questions unanswered.

"oh.. i see.." you respond, dejectedly. this causes her to pull you into a tight hug.

"(y/n). don't ever ask to leave this tower, again." she commands, coldly.

"okay.." you say.

"mother loves you very much dear," she sighs, wrapping her cloak around herself.

"i love you more," you respond, as she prepares to leave.

"i love you most." .・。.・゜✭・.

"i'll see you in a bit my flower" she calls out, waving as she reaches the bottom of the tower.

"i'll be here.." you mumble, resting your face on one hand and waving with the other.

.・。.・゜✭・.

after what feels like an eternity of running, suguru stumbles upon an empty tower in the middle of nowhere.

'perfect' he thinks, taking two sticks and climbing up along the wall.

"finally.." he starts, opening his satchel and pulling out the crown, staring at it lovingly. "alone at last.."

with a hit to the head from a frying pan, he's knocked out cold.

[im-a-king-baby]

hi ! first of all; i read ELYN over the easter weekend and stayed up till like five am waiting for it to get happy so i could sleep (i gave up) and i loved it so so much. It just feels like such a tangible, realistic outcome for them (if we ignore s3) it made me ache in that exact anxious yearning way the actual show does. Big ask and 100% appreciate it if the answer is no but are you planning to write more for them in that universe? Would love to see them when Wille is at university, or see Wille simply make some (oblivious?) uni friends, or see Sara and Simon interact again or honestly literally anything and everything.

secondly, and who knows maybe (probably) you’re aware of this but the photos/images in the fic do not appear as images but just as a text/error box? Is that intentional or did they break? I kept finding myself curious as to what image was put with the chapters haha

Hi!!! I hope you had a good easter... and went to sleep at some point... 😅

Thank you for alerting me about the images! I was not aware of that :( Although I guess that makes all those hours hardcoding the text threads and tumblr posts so they would work without images worth it 😂

I have gone through it all again and updated the image links so they are working for me now (let me know if they're still broken for you?).

There's nothing in them that's required to follow the fic, you just get to judge the time I spent procrastinating by making album covers and then sorting all the random pop songs I'd invented into albums (something that was definitely vital even though no one but me cares about the difference in vibe between Simme eras 🤣).

If you are just interested in the art, these are the 4 covers I used in the fic:

Sadly this fic was always destined to lose canon status after season 3 (although I am going to keep believing August's arc could go the ELYN route until proven otherwise).

Regarding sequels, prooobably not? Sorry :( I have more notes for Simon pov scenes during and before than anything set after because I'm not sure what more I have to say, (other than wanting to write something of ELYN Wille with Edvin's new haircut but basically all I've got is this:

For a moment Simon thinks Wilhelm isn’t even here, then the bleached blond head turns and it’s Wilhelm’s face and Wilhelm’s eyes and Wilhelm’s mouth dropping open in surprise at seeing Simon in the doorway. “You’re here,” Wilhelm says. “How are you -?” “You cut your hair.” It’s dumb. Obviously. But Simon hasn’t slept and Wilhelm’s hair is almost white, sharp and bristled, and Simon wants to touch it, to see if it hurts. “I…” Wilhelm hesitates. “There were always rules about my appearance, about how I was allowed to look, and I thought…” he reaches a hand to his hairline, his face falling a little. “Do you hate it?” The bristles give under his fingers, impossibly soft. He looks older, but also somehow younger, like he’s reclaiming the rebellious teen years that the crown never let him have. “I want to kiss you,” Simon says. The coffee shop is full of people. At least four that Simon can see are looking at them, not even trying to be subtle. There’s a camera tilted in their direction, but it’s not close. “Can I kiss you?” “I-” Wilhelm starts doing the same glance - who’s watching, who’s filming - then seems to catch himself, snorts a soft laugh and pulls Simon in. It's too short for Simon to catch hold of, but he can run his fingers through it and it's soft or ghost them over to catch the sharp edges of the tips, and it's Wilhelm and he's here, they're both here. And they're going to be okay.

<3

[savage-rhi]

Weird request but could you write a prompto/Noctis drabble based on those emojis? ❤️🫴🫶💐🍝🧋💍

It had been five years since Noctis gave his life to the world.

It had been five years since the monarchy ended, and a new government had risen from the ashes.

It had been five years since the boys had been on a road trip, and it had been five years since Prompto and Noctis celebrated their anniversary—the day they became friends in high school.

Prompto quietly gazed out his apartment window, overlooking the world of Insomnia below him. His eyes admired the endless lights that kept the darkness at bay. He felt proud of himself for how far he, Gladio, and Ignis had come in the restoration effort. Patching up a broken city was no easy task, much less helping the new government find its feet.

Surrounding Prompto and the coffee table in his living room was a plate of burnt spaghetti, wilted flowers, cheap boba, and a plastic ring—its color chipping off over the years. These items were irrelevant to most, but to Prompto, each was priceless.

Prompto purposefully overcooked the spaghetti noodles, just as Noctis did the night he first came to the prince's apartment. Their ideal gaming weekend was ruined as both became sick to their stomachs. That didn't stop the teasing or the laughs that lasted into the early hours, by which point Noctis thought he would die and called Ignis. The man was so angry that he had to run to several markets to get medicine. It was also the first time Prompto met Iggy; he was confident it would be the last. After all, who would throw their lot in with a young cackling teenager who couldn't help the royal prince with food poisoning? Prompto was shocked that Ignis pulled him aside after putting Noct to bed, shook his hand, and told him to keep coming over as Noctis never had company--and, of course, Ignis gently pointed out he needed a break from the prince's shenanigans.

Prompto's eyes then stared at the wilted flowers, remembering when he made Noctis a flower crown during the spring festival—plopping it upon his head in front of a group of ladies who had been ogling him and sprinkling sylleblossom petals at his feet while skipping around. Prompto teased Noct to the point where the ladies he was trying to woo ended up laughing and leaving since it seemed Noct was "already taken." He gave Noct so much shit that night that Prompto was surprised that he never sought vengeance.

Prompto looked at the empty container of boba, remembering the nights both Noctis and himself would go to the corner market past midnight, too restless to sleep. How they tried to cram in as much studying, only to end with playing video games and sharing personal stories. Prompto wished he knew then why Noctis didn't like talking about the future because, deep down, Noct knew he wouldn't live long enough to see it through.

I was such a foolish boy--such a damned foolish kid...

Prompto let out a breath, making a fist against his knee. He forced his gaze to the plastic ring. It was one of the last gifts Noctis ever gave him, a prize he got from a cereal box.

"You need the opal one to complete the King's Knight set, right? There's no point in buying crates of Cactaur Flakes when I can give it to you. Also, happy friendiversary! Marry me while you're at it? Haha!"

Prompto sniffled, wiping away the tears that flowed down his cheeks. His heart beat so fast as he remembered those words. He picked up the plastic toy and gazed upon its cracks. It had seen better days and no doubt would be obsolete in the coming decade, but the piece of plastic was the closest thing Prompto had to hugging Noctis again as he placed it over his chest and took a deep breath.

He wished he had done it that night before the final battle, offering Noctis his hand and telling him every unspoken word. Every feeling he had placed upon that shitty cereal box ring the moment Noctis jokingly asked for his hand in marriage. Alas, it wasn't meant to be, just as Noctis wasn't meant to see the new world Prompto and the boys had built.

Prompto didn't know which truth made him sadder.

He missed him so much.

If you like my work and feel generous, feel free to donate to my ko-fi account or my cash app account!

Cash App: $JayRex1463

[centuryberry]

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

CHAPTER 14 HOLY MOTHER OF BROWNIES IT'S SO AMAZINGGGGGGG ALSO YUE JUST TURNING DOWN BOWEN SO CALMLY NOT TAKING ANY OF THE LIES HE SPEWING GAHHHHHHHHHHHH ALSO JUST CUTE LIL FLUFF WITH THE BESTIESSSSS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I LOVES THIS SO MUCHHHHHHHH ALSO YESSSSSSS MORE INTERACTIONS WITH NEZHA AND ERLANGGGGGGGG BABEY IS TOO SMART FOR THEM ALL AND FIGURES OUT WHAT HAPPENED WITH HER BABA AND PLAYS NEZHA INTO CONFIRMING HER THEORY AND SILENCING EVERYONE WITH THE BOMBSHELL SHE JUST UNCOVERED

poor Nezha and Erlang didn't stand a chance, our lil queen just too clever for them <333

ALSO

I LOVE THE PART WHERE MACAQUE'S JUST INTERROGARTING XIAOTIAN AND YUE'S JUST LIKE; "have you looked at him? he doesn't even know what's going on!" AND THEN PROCEEDS TO SCOLD HER UNCLE FOR MAKING HER POOR SHIJIE CRY CAUSE SHE GAVE LIL YUE A FLOWER CROWN

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Haha, Yue managed to keep her cool throughout that entire Bowen proposing debacle mostly because she was in disbelief at the sheer audacity of the boar.

Nezha and Erlang are no match for Yue - not that they mind "losing" in this situation since now it meant that they didn't have to keep any secrets away from her. The entire situation felt unfair.

But still. Yue was a little cheeky for doing her classic "drop the info bomb" move right when everyone least expects it.

Macaque is going out of his mind with overprotectiveness and worry for Yue. It's the first Spring Season she's of age to participate in. He just doesn't want her stolen away. Or choose to leave the "nest" so soon. Or get her heart broken.

[temporalhiccup]

🌼 for Apocalypse Keys, 🌈 for Twilight Throne, and ☔

🌼Share something beautiful from one of your games (Apocalypse Keys!).

The Skin Collector has to be one of my most precious beauties, made truly beautiful thanks to art by Chelsea Geter and art direction from Trivia Fox. I couldn't have imagined this visual at all, and between the both of them I love how it became a commentary on how beauty is appropriated in such horrifying ways. It also just makes the writing I did pop and expand that much more!

🌈 Share your favourite class/playbook from one of your games (Twilight Throne!).

So in Twilight Throne I'm being slightly (haha) ambitious in that the Playbooks are deconstructed across several components, but arguably the House your character belongs to is one of the biggest components.

Here is the description for the House of Sword & Halo, which contains all my post-colonial feelings about Catholicism as a tool of oppression and control:

House of Sword & Halo

Once we stood together as the army of heaven, reigning through righteous fury and divine benevolence. Now our Gods are dead, killed by our own blades. Our power resides in the cursed spaces between violence and divinity.

We are broken wings and cracked halos, a burning fire that will never die, and crowns made of light. We are the war cry of the blessed, forced to serve absent Gods.

Through power and curse we command and serve Heaven.

It's also one of the "simpler" playbooks (most of the abilities focus on aggressive action or protection), but it's still my favorite! I just love fucked up angels and every person in playtest has made a lovely fucked up angel when they are of this house. ☔Is there a game idea you have that you’re not sure you’ll ever write? If so, what is it?

I've been obsessed with the idea of a racing game, especially because Speed Racer is one of my favorite films of all time. It's also just a vibe I love (like Tron and Akira's lightcycle races).

But every time I think about it, I can't personally figure out how to translate the action of a race into the ttrpg space that's satisfying to me (or what I'm capable of designing). Recently I started watching Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire and the second episode Mkhuzi: The Spirit Racer was sooooo fucking good! The racing was exquisite! Off the charts! I really wish I could pull off that vibe.

In the mean time, I'll just hope I come across another game that pulls it off instead.

[apupp3tw0-strings]

Ragdoll's Revenge

Date: October 17th, 2131

Okay. We're at Castle Town now. Look's like everyone's getting settled in alright. CK did have Dorothy, er, well, the Patch Crown. I think she's still asleep. Like the other secret bosses from Kris's journey. ... I should sort out some better accommodations than the inventory. Spamton didn't seem to like it, so I doubt the others do either, even if they're dormant at the moment. Maybe I can get Remie to set something up? She seems eager to help and stuff. First though we should wait for Kris to show up. I think CK said they were still helping Auntie Tori with something.

While we wait though, I should tell you about the battle.

The inside of the cell was padded, with some fabric patches sewn on the walls and floor. At the end of the room, kneeled a ragdoll Darkner. Chained up by her wrists as needles were stuck into her back. She seemed to be breathing heavily as we approached.

"Hah haha!//Finally, some//NO ONE WILL//to see the world as// Moment of truth.//And as//FREEDOM.//one step at a time.//After I Enslave//tell you the truth//I can show up//Why Everyone Else Is So//The truth...//!!!" I wonder if there's something with the... whoever Darkners like Spamton, Jevil, and Dorothy meet that causes these weird speech patterns. Talking in round about riddles and rhymes, broken ads, stitched together dialogue. Is it some form of punishment? Just a side effect of meeting him? ... A method of control?

"So um, what is this 'truth', ribatti, ribatti?" Remie asked. I was wondering that too. I've been wondering it since I met Jevil and Spamton. What do they mean when they talk of Light? Of Freedom? Of games or deals or communion? Spamton keeps randomly screaming about burning, I don't know if it was acid or seeing too far. What does it mean? What does it mean!?

"Ha ha ha!!!//The truth...//OH, IT'S JUST A SIMPLE//truth or dare" Dorothy managed to break free of her chains as she rained a row of needles just past our faces. "The truth is,//in this world..." She stood up, flexing her back to send the pins and needles stuck into her to go flying before she pulled out one needled that transformed into a giant mallet. "It's KILL or BE killed."

"MWEH HEH! SO THAT'S HOW IT'S GONNA BE?" CK exclaimed excitedly as we all drew our weapons as well, "THEN BRING IT!!!"

"you wanna fight//the truth?//YOU KIDS ARE//couldn't stand.//Addicting Game of Chance//!!!"

And thus the battle began.

Flying needles, stitching thread, pounding hammers. The fight was absolutely terrifying, yet there was still a part of me that found it... fun? No, maybe not fun. Maybe that was just the adrenaline talking. I knew that no matter what, I had to help. I couldn't just leave her like this. Luckily the Askers seemed to agree. Continuing to try and refusing to give up until we spared Dorothy. Still doesn't mean it didn't hurt. We died. I died. Like four times. I literally felt my soul (the soul? Was it my actual one or that... thing?) shatter like, at least four times! I experienced death! It was nothing but an empty void with... someone calling out faintly. To me? To the Askers? I don't know. To me it was a whisper. Most of what I heard was Papa. Encouraging me to get up and keep going. And so we did. We got up and tried again... and then died again!

At least now I know what the glowing stars were for.

Okay, okay. Calm down. Point is you're still alive now and hopefully you won't have to go through anything like that again anytime soon. Where was I?

Yeah, the battle. Sparing Dorothy was... difficult. Not only did we die alot, but it took a long while. I feel like... At least 4 stages? And I think that's just because we managed to spare her before a 5th. There were two ACTs, but we only used Patch like, once. Probably as it seemed to make her attacks hit harder. I remember for Calm, Remie sung a song, and CK tried his best to speak softer, but I just kept trying to whisper and communicate to Dorothy in whatever ways I could.

"I'm sorry." "You must be in so much pain." "I'm trying to help." "I want to help." "What happened to you?" "Who did this?" "It'll be okay." "I'm going to get you out of this." "Please let me get you out of this." "I'd be angry too."

With every Calm, Dorothy seemed to get a little more tired. Bit by bit, turn by turn. She was still angry though. Very, VERY, angry.

"The gash weaves//past this//!!" "Cotton heart and button eye//Now//It's time to//DIE! DIE! DIE!" "Stab The Earth//with//saws and needles"

After many attempts and four long phases, we finally managed to wear her down. We got her tired enough for Remie to cast Pacify.

"HUFF//Huff… puff…!//this isn't another trick, is it//?" As Dorothy lowered her hammer and stopped attacking, she was breathing heavily. Clearly the battle had taken a lot out of all of us. "You kids//you won’t fight.)//I will KILL you.////Yet…//You//calmly whispered something to DOROTHY." (Was she able to hear the flavor text? ... Where did the flavor text even come from???)

"…//Why was I//FIGHT until you almost defeat them…)//I FEEL SO//ANGRY and STRESSED OUT!!!" At that point, she seemed to almost break down. The weight of her exhaustion getting to her. "I'm so tired of this,//Yet… strangely…//Only the first//through the start.)" Dorothy looked up to us as she seemed to give us some sort of warning. "The Knight//RETURNS, AND//Supreme Empire//will fall down//Lightners//are you ready?//For what?//UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS…!!!"

"Urah ha ha ha…//Maybe you can//maybe you can't use that. H… How should//I know what you really want to say. Lightner's//you continue to be yourself.//THE ONE IN CONTROL?" After that, Dorothy kneeled down took off the crown on her head, presenting it to us. "Let me give you my//Grant me strength!" After that she turned into the crown? I think? I'm still confused...

*(You got ShadowCrystal.)

*You got PatchCrown

... We headed back upstairs after that before back tracking to the Dusty Plains. It seems we had someone to talk to.

To be Continued...

[wavesmp3]

✍️ Fic authors self rec!

When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to other writers you know. Let's spread some self-love! 💛

I love this idea!!!

I’m afraid I haven’t written very many new fics and so I’ll definitely be sounding like a broken record here haha but

1. the sea is yours to take — my love and heart and child forever

2. oasis — another one of my children who is so spunky and really feels like a proper story to me. I realized recently that I do this thing when I’m planning pieces that really makes them just collections of scenes but with oasis there truly is a proper plot and the characters are changed and Stuff is happening. also the characters I love dearly and are real characters with strengths and weaknesses and wants and faults. namely of course crown who is so opposite from who I am and who helped me really experience how writing and reading leads to more empathy lolol because I love crown and crown can do no wrong in my book but i would just never do some of the stuff crown did

3. are you happy? — not my most engaged with fic but one of my favorites nonetheless, she breaks my heart

4. eurydice — it’s probably not my favorite showcase of my writing itself but i had so much fun writing it and it kind of jumpstarted a really fun time of me writing on tumblr. and the theme in eurydice of like you can’t bring back the dead even when you can is so special to me.

5. 8000 layers of inyun — just to change things up something new perhaps lol. but no I really do like this piece of mine and although again engagement was quite low, I feel like it’s such a wonderful exploration of such a real thing. the grief over the what if? facing who you used to be? accepting the fact that you are who you are now? idk, a lot of those aren’t very explicit in the piece itself except for maybe the first one but it’s a lot of the questions I was asking myself and the characters when I was writing that piece. and I think partly the reason why I like this fic so much is because i just loved past lives so much

special mention of today I want to burst into flames since that technically isn’t a fic

[archiveikemen]

Liam Evans Main Story Preview

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read this before interacting with my posts

warnings: this post contains graphic descriptions of murder and violence.

My greatest sin — was my birth.

Liam: Thank you all for coming to our theater tonight!

— Liam Evans.

A member of Crown and a stage actor, this man came into my life like a falling star.

Liam: How about you observe me for a month and write about me in your report?

Kate: About you…?

Liam: That's right. Not about Crown, but about me as a person. It's because the finest stories are the ones with the best main character.

Liam: I’m confident that I can satisfy and charm you. I’ll shine even brighter just for you.

You were a star who charmed everyone around you, falling in love with you felt inevitable.

Because of how blindingly bright you shined — I failed to notice the burden of your dark past you’ve been carrying.

…

Harrison: Liam. This news article…

Harrison: It says that you killed the Evans— every last one of them.

…

Marie: … Why did he have to die and you’re (Liam) still alive?

Liam: …

Marie: If it wasn't for you back then, everything… everything would've been…!

— You are a sinner. Acknowledge your sins and wish that you will cause your own demise.

(What on earth happened in your past that caused you to carry this burden?)

…

Liam: Pfft, ahaha! What’s the matter? I won’t know unless you tell me…!

With every swing of his knife, bright red blood spilled before Liam’s eyes.

(I have to stop him… if not…)

Liam: Look! The “mistake” is going to slaughter you…!

(Ah… ah…)

(I need to stop him… but… he…)

(He… he can’t hear me…)

...

Harrison: This man...

Harrison: His greatest wish in this world is to xxx himself.

His past was slowly uncovered, along with the scars from the painful wounds he suffered.

He tried to push me away from himself, seemingly afraid of being loved.

…

Liam: Haha… I’m truly broken beyond repair.

Liam: I’m right next to you, even though I don't deserve you. And yet, I was the one who got close to you in the first place… how ironic.

Liam: … I know for sure that I’ll end up hurting you if I stay by your side any longer, Kate.

Liam: To me, that…

Liam: … scares me more than hurting myself.

(Nevertheless, I never want to lose you.)

(I won’t ever xxx you.)

— Even if this desire of mine gives you pain.

…

Liam: I’m begging you. End me with your own hands. Only then… for the first time, I’ll be glad that I was ever born.

This is a story about a bloody love affair between him who fears the future, and you who believes in the future.

[thrandilf]

I don’t know if you’re taking rec’s still but if you want some good authors? If not feel free to ignore/delete! (All these are on ao3 that site’s spoiled me I can’t go anywhere else)

Alienu has a lot of really good shadowpeach working on their relationship fics. It’s almost a gag how they never actually get to them kissing but dear GOD there’s that longing to. Maybe one day.

Marinara_Trench writes softer macaque/shadowpeach than some of these, but I like how they write everyone as Just a Guy trying their Best. They also gave me the headcanon that macaque collects the stupidest, cheesiest pieces of junk like wukong collects random treasures.

cloud_somersault really good at acknowledging the Monkies got Issues. I mean they got Mei and Redson in a fic or two but it’s mainly the three main monkeys dealing with shit.

poetoutofthebeast I guess the best way to describe their writing is that they take a concept and run with it and it’s a very enjoyable experience for me. Almost crack treated seriously but the scenarios make sense?

KinbariTeaHeathen just the best dynamics! Fun scenarios with fun character combinations!!

K’s writing anon I have no idea who this is but this tag has some of the funnest story ideas I have read for lmk. My two recommendations are ‘obelus’ where LBD thinks trying to possess macaque as a new body is a good idea, and ‘heavy is the heart that wears the crown’ where LBD gets the fillet and macaque takes. Perhaps the stupidest route to keep her from using it on anyone else?

magic, myths, and emotionally unstable monkeys (lmk fics) series not an author but it’s got some of my favorite wukong character studies in regards to shadowpeach

And a some good fics:

Temporary Touch Explicit, and has macaque burn FFM, but probably one of the most logical in how they’d get back together/heal/get together (that is to say that their problems come up naturally and they deal with them extremely in character (terribly) not that the characters are being smart about the situation they’ve got themselves into at All)

Collapse into me Macaque runs to the brotherhood while dying and Azure does a not smart thing! Not too far in the plot but the character dynamics sure are dynamic.

Swear it on the Sun the only thing that has given credence to the idea Peng had a thing for Mac, and it’s not even got Peng having feelings for Mac.

My sunflower is crying, I’m sorry hanahaki au where Mac has hanahaki and goes “well I’m gonna die, that sucks” and? Makes the most of it? He gets cured ofc but he gets annoyed his plan gets ruined. Ofc

The Broken Pleas of a Familiar Face (And an Exhausted Shadow) Macaque asks wukong to stay and help him take care of the mountain cause he’s struggling, and wukong’s y’know. On jttw. So it doesn’t go well.

meant to do a lil blurb under the fic recs but then I was on like 2% and didn't want to lose the whole thing but I hope you find some fics you like! 'We just "click"' was such a nice find for me and finding you on tumblr is v exciting! Ok have a nice day byee

Aaaaa thank you!

I meant to answer this way sooner and forgot I hadn't, I appreciate the list to go through!

I just read Temporary Touch (all in one sitting oops) and I absolutely love it, I ran into it in the wild on ao3 and the name sounded familiar, glad I gave it a shot because right now it is my fave shadowpeach but it's nice to have a list of some others

Thank you for the recs and I'm glad you liked We Just Click haha

[masterqwertster]

not to spam the inbox but i did just read the ruby vanguard bh au thing and CACKLE at the idea of chetney piecing together all of their stories over time and saying absolutely nothing about it for weeks until it comes up in casual conversation. everyone just stares at him and blinks for ten seconds before all hell breaks loose

Haha, you're fine. I don't think I'd consider anything Spamming the Ask Box unless it was like, 10+ asks in a day from one person. And even then I'd mostly be flattered that someone wanted to engage that much.

As fun as the idea of Chetney going, "Oh, I know all of everyone's secrets" is, it's... not exactly what I had in mind.

See, Chet's thing is that he's old as dirt, and thus experienced in people. And, until Gurge was kidnapped, had nothing even close to involvement in Ruby Vanguard schemes.

So what happens is that Chetney comes to the group a little later, without previously knowing anyone, and he notices some odd shit.

Like Imogen has talked into his head, asked him for discretion about that ability, and then won't even look like she's considering telling the rest of the group no matter how encouraging and reassuring he is about the reveal.

...But Chet's also pretty sure he's caught her having mental conversations with Fearne, and maybe Orym. Which is extra weird since she's known Laudna, Ashton, and FCG the longest (she has to hide it from them, they know what Exaltant are. And Ashton's galaxy brain has broken more than few that dived looking for answers the genasi didn't want to give them. FCG has been stressed into snapping by mental intrusion. And Laudna... something about her mind is a lethal trap to the uninvited)

Or how Imogen and Laudna act weird about Orym describing the assassins that killed his husband, but in different ways.

Laudna will look kind of guilty, like she wants to say something, but also kind of scared out of her mind to actually say whatever it is (Laudna's "closeness" to Delilah means she's more aware of how Vox Machina would react to just the Possessed issue, and very wary of giving them more reasons to want her dead, such as helping the organization that tried to assassinate one of their members and did kill people under their protection).

Imogen tends to look like she bit into a lemon (because she never knew the cost for normal people before, and she likes Orym, he's a good guy, but she knows the RV has to remove obstacles to their goals, they're saving the world)

Ashton and FCG are still looking for answers about themselves, but they're also leery as hell about letting pretty much anyone but Laudna poke around at them.

Like Ashton tends to snarl when Fearne suggests opening FCG up (he's seen careless researchers hurt FCG when they're opened up for study, seen his core almost snuffed out. never again)

The way FCG wants explicit permission anytime he's going to magically influence Ashton's mind (through unwanted experiments, they've found that the infinity of the galaxy brain won't drive crazy those Ashton lets in, but he doesn't know where the line is drawn, what mental magic will risk it) and the way Laudna and Ashton are constantly pushing FCG to be open about their emotions (it's the only way to prevent the stress snaps: address problems before they can percolate into something bigger)

But Laudna is also leery of poking at them herself (not because she's afraid of what backlash may reach her from them, no. She's afraid of what Delilah might do with what they learn, what ways Delilah can mislead her inquiries to hurt her bois)

Fearne's open about her goal to kill her parents (she doesn't mention that she's on a deadline, that she has to take back the Crown soon. But Imogen knows, those two tend to collaborate since they're working towards similar goals in the Malleus Keys and are both Ruidusborn)

So yeah, Chetney has a lot of pieces that show how the party is not a solid unit all on the same page. And he's going to end up being a mediator when the hidden truths come to light.